I have a recipe for swiss merengue buttercream that I really love.Now I want to try a italian merengue buttercream.Can I use the same recipe ingredients?Can I just change the method.I have heard that is the same recipe,just it requires to cook the sugar.Thanks!

please

Why don't you just use a recipe that is a known good one? You may be setting yourself up for failure. I am all for making a recipe "personal", but when trying a new technique, I follow it exactly the first time. There are so many discussions about this on CC. Study first and use one of the favorite recipes on CC. Good luck and we will all be here to help as you go through making the recipe the first time. They were here for me when I decided to overthink IMBC and botched the first batch. I used the Cake Love recipe. The second batch was perfect because of the help I got here.

I've usually always used the disolving suger in whites over double broiler method. And I've also used a recipe that called for dissolving the suger in water and then adding it slowly. ALLLL methods I have tried have miserably failed. I love the tast of the egg whites so I prefer to keep using them. Yes, I know the humidity factor and I"ve payed closer attention to that and I still can't get it work. I must be just buttercream stupid or something because I cannot get this down. Someone HELP!

I use the whimsical bakehouse recipe for Imbc, have made it several times and am absolutley in love with how easy it is, essentially it is the same ingredients as smbc, you just cook the sugar to a certain temp (245) and add it into your egg whites( whipped to stiff peaks) they have the recipe on their site. I also find that using a candy thermometer is more reliable than timing it like it says to in the bakehouse recipe. Cake loves specifies to bring sugar to 245 i believe.

I also make whimsical bakehouse imbc. It is the best i have ever tasted. I also make smbc.

So I tried your guyses advice and at first it was working out well. I got good volume in my egg whites and everything. I made sure my whites were completely room temp before adding the butter and still it turned into a soup. And no matter how much I beat it afterwords, it was still a soup. It does this EVERY SINGLE time I make buttercream with whites no matter which kind or method I use. I'm starting to think that this part of Illinois is just a terrible place to make this icing...or buttercream just doesn't like me. I'm at a loss.

This may sound odd, but what size is your mixer? I have Kitchenaids... a pro 6 and it comes together perfectly. If I am making another batch in my artisan right beside it, it takes forever. Reason: The artisan creates heat at the motor and makes the process take forever. The pro 6 stays cool. For the smaller mixer I have taken the CC advice and packed frozen vegetables around the outside of the bowl. And I wipe down the motor area periodically with a cool cloth. Another thing I do is my butter is still cold. I do the finger indent test (can push your finger in but there is still resistance). Your only problem is temperature. Sometimes you just have to find the odd quirks of your equipment.

Check your thermometer. I have had four of them in the last two years and three were wrong... including the much praised CDN. The old Taylor is the only correct one. Maybe your white/ sugar mixture is off. Boil water and see if you hit 212 degrees. It sounds like you are doing it right, but if your mixer motor is throwing off heat, there may be nothing you can do.

Quick question: I take it that swiss merengue bc does not crust, right??

The meringue should be room temp. Sometimes it takes up to fourteen minutes to get there. If you do it too early, you will have a soupy mess. I was referring to the temp of the syrup in IMBC. Are you using SMBC or IMBC?

Ohh ok. Yeah, my meringue is always cool to the touch (not just the bowl, but the actual meringue). And I've always heard to bring the syrup to 240-245 so that's what I've been doing.

My recipes are 238 to 245, so they are right. What butter do you use? I only use Land O Lakes, so if it is another brand, hopefully someone will chime in.

I use whatever is real butter and on sale to be honest. On a TIGHT budget!

Not all butters are created equal. Just like off brand sugar and flour. Try Land O Lakes one time and see if your butter is not working. I know it is expensive, but you may need to adjust your price if thisis the only solution.

I deffinitely have used Land O' Lakes because sometimes that's all I can really find that is real butter and not Margarine. However, I haven't used it every time so I couldn't give an accurate response to what a difference it could have made. I'll try that though.

Has anyone heard that sometimes the butter will turn the bc to a soft consistancy and it will thicken up if you keep whipping it? Is this true? I've heard it several different times and I'm wondering if these people are just lucky or something??

Does SMBC crust at all??

Thanks Jen! I thought it would get soupy if left out.

I just use the regular beaters that come with the cheap stand mixer (like a hand mixer type beater). I was hoping that a whisk attachment for a hand mixer would fit in, but it doesn't. So, I'm stuck with the beaters. I was afraid that maybe this was my problem, but I don't have much of another option unless I use a whisk by hand.

Hey LisaPeps, you are the one who got me through my first batch of IMBC!!! I do change the blade to the scraper blade to add the butter.

FromScratch, thanks for the tip about leaving it out.

Stupid question here:

What is the big deal with the Swiss/Italian meringues?
I have never made them, and wonder, does it turn out like the meringue on a lemon meringue pie? Is it a baked frosting? Does it crust? What type cakes do you use it for? Does it have a taste or once again, is it like the pie one? And what is the difference between the two meringue tastes?

I would love to try it, but not sure what makes this so good. Also, is this a 'frosting' that you don't put any decorations on? You just use it as a frosting?
thank you for all my questions.

Much more qualified can answer better than I can. It is so refined, not a greasy sugar rush compared to grocery store icing. These are the european cooked recipes of the past making a resurgence in mainstream baking. They have always been the staples of pastry chefs.

Vickymacd -- the big deal is that it is incredibly delicious, more sophisticated, and less sugary than the crisco/powdered sugar type of buttercream. No, it is not like the meringue on a pie -- it starts out that way, but then you beat a lot of butter into it and it becomes a delicious frosting. You can smooth it (with a warm knife or bench scraper), you can pipe with it (although it is softer than shortening-based buttercreams), it does not crust, it can be decorated with fondant accents or modelling chocolate. Because it is made with a lot of butter, it acts like butter would in heat and humidity. It should be chilled for storage, and on the cake, and brought to room temp before being served for best flavor. It will keep in the refrigerator for weeks and in the freezer for longer than that. It should be brought to room temp before being re-beaten.